Veteran Auburn QB Payton Thorne Owns Arkansas Loss: ‘We Just Weren’t Good Enough’

For the second time in three weeks, the Auburn Tigers dropped a home game that they were favored to win.

Similarly to their loss against Cal, offense was the main culprit for the Tigers in their 24-14 loss to Arkansas.

One thing that was different this time around was quarterback Payton Thorne’s role in the game. Thorne got the start against Cal and ended up losing the starting job following the game.

Hank Brown replaced Thorne as Auburn’s starter and had success in the Tigers’ win over New Mexico last week, but was pulled after throwing three interceptions in the first half against Arkansas.

Thorne entered the game after halftime and provided a spark, throwing for 213 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the second half. The fifth-year senior took responsibility for the loss on behalf of Auburn’s offense.

“We just weren’t good enough on offense,” Thorne said. “I thought our defense played well enough to win for sure. I thought they played their tails off, and we weren’t good enough on offense at the end of the day.”

The Tigers committed five-total turnovers and are now dead last in FBS with 14 turnovers in 4 games. Head coach Hugh Freeze referred to the Tigers’ turnover woes as “sickening.”

Thorne will give Brown, a redshirt freshman, advice on how to respond to a performance like this, and the two quarterbacks will watch film together.

“It’s not easy,” Thorne said. “He’s (Brown) a young guy, second year. I’m going to be talking to him about staying off his phone, quite honestly. There’s going to be a lot of stuff out there, and that’s not important. What’s important is he watches the film, and we watch film together.”

Thorne had a different week in practice than what he has been used to, running with the second-string unit. That gave Thorne a different perspective heading into this game.

“I think Tuesday I came home, sat down and thought to myself, that was the first time I’ve run with the twos since 2020,” Thorne said. “It was a new experience, a new viewpoint of things. Now I believe that everything happens for a reason, and if you take the right mindset with it there’s always something to learn.”

Thorne believes that he and Brown can work together to help Auburn get back on track offensively.

“We’re both going to come in and go to work,” Thorne said. “Take all the steps that we normally do throughout the week. I want to put my best foot forward and do everything I can.”

The Tigers return to action against No. 15 Oklahoma next Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30/3:15 p.m. CT and the television broadcast information is TBA.